Communications of the ACM
The news archive provides access to past news stories from Communications of the ACM and other sources by date.
April 2010
From ACM News
In the Search For a Hot Job Title, Enter the Ninja
Nicole Sullivan's job used to involve promoting the latest technology, so her résumé described her as an "evangelist." But after starting her own company, she needed to emphasize a different skill set.
Now, she likes to be known…From ACM News
Look, No Hands: Cars That Drive Better Than You
With his jeans, white trainers and stripy top, Bob is every inch the well-dressed 6-year-old. He's standing in the middle of a hotel car park and, scarily, I'm driving straight at him. Instead of hitting the brakes, I put my…
From ACM News
Science and Engineering Employment Reached 5.8 Million in 2008
Employment in science and engineering occupations in the United States reached an estimated 5,781,000 by May 2008, up 13.7 percent from May 2004, compared to a 5.5 percent employment increase in all occupations for the same…
From ACM News
Hackers Not Linked to China's Government, Researcher Says
China-based hackers who stole data on India's missile systems, private correspondence of the Dalai Lama and Canadian visa applications appear not to be linked to the Chinese government, says one of the researchers who took…
From ACM TechNews
A Grand Unified Theory of AI
MIT research scientist Noah Goodman has developed Church, a programming language that combines a rules-based artificial intelligence system with probabilistic inference systems.
From ACM News
Glonass: Has Russia's Sat-Nav System Come of Age?
With the Glonass satellite-navigation constellation nearly complete, Russia's plan to wean itself off the US Global Positioning System (GPS) appears to be coming to fruition.
But Moscow now says it wants the Russian system to…From ACM News
Combing Medical Records For Research
When the stimulus bill passed last year--allocating $20 billion to help doctors and hospitals adopt electronic medical records (EMRs)--many scientists were excited about the possibilities for medical research. EMRs provide vast…
From ACM News
Fcc Loses Comcast Challenge
Comcast on Tuesday won its federal lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission in a ruling that undermines the agency's ability to regulate Internet service providers just as it unrolls a sweeping broadband agenda.
…From ACM TechNews
Revolutionary New Solution for Semiconductor & Nano Materials
University of Maryland researchers have developed a new way to generate high quality semiconductor materials essential for advanced microelectronics and nanotechnology.
From ACM TechNews
Hurdles Multiply For H-1b Seekers
U.S. government efforts to enforce H-1B visa rules could reduce the demand for the 65,000 available visas for fiscal year 2011, for which applicants could petition beginning April 1.
From ACM News
Network Coding: Router Revolution?
Network coding, a radical approach to improving router efficiency, has been researched and explored for years. So why isn't it ready for prime time?
From ACM News
Head-Mounted Display Monitors Patient Data During Surgery
A new head-mounted display system lets anesthesiologists keep an eye on critical monitoring data during surgery—without having to turn their attention away from the patient, reports a study in the April issue of Anesthesia…
From ACM News
Researchers Trace Data Theft to Intruders in China
Canadian and United States computer security researchers have monitored the spying operation of a China-based computer espionage gang for the past eight months, observing while the intruders pilfered classified and restricted…
From ACM News
After Patent on Genes Is Invalidated, Taking Stock
Many biotechnology stocks fell on Tuesday as investors struggled to understand the impact of a ruling that threw out parts of two gene patents and called into question thousands more.
Stock market losses were muted, with two…From ACM News
Debunkers of Fictions Sift the Net
It is one of the paradoxes of the Internet.
Along with the freest access to knowledge the world has ever seen comes a staggering amount of untruth, from imagined threats on health care to too-easy-to-be-true ways to earn money…From ACM TechNews
Nist Workshop Takes First Steps Toward Standards For Preserving Digital Data
A recent U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology workshop discussed the requirements for creating an international digital data preservation standard.
From ACM TechNews
Boston University Engineers Trying to Improve UAVs
Boston University engineers are implementing a theoretical approach to optimize automated mission control, which describes mid-level control approaches that go further than improving stability and tracking trajectories, and decision…
From ACM TechNews
Speedier Bug Catching
Engineers have developed new transistors that can locate hardware bugs in a fraction of the time it takes to perform normal debugging.
From ACM TechNews
Innovative Techniques Applied to Visual Navigation by Mobile Robots
University of the Basque Country researchers are studying how hyperspectral images can be applied to mobile robots with the goal of enhancing the robots' capacity for spatial orientation and their resources for detecting their…
From ACM TechNews
Clearing a Path For Latino Scientists
A University of Southern California study found that although the number of Latinos earning bachelor's degrees has increased over the last decade, the growth has been disproportionate in fields other than science, technology,…
From ACM TechNews
Bionic Vision Unveils Advanced Prototype Electronic Eyeball
University of New South Wales and Bionic Vision Australia researchers recently unveiled an advanced prototype of an electronic eyeball that could be used by people with impaired vision.
From ACM TechNews
Building Airplanes on a Computer
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill computer scientists and Boeing researchers are developing a new set of algorithms and techniques to simulate digital assemblies of large CAD structures such as a Boeing aircraft.
From ACM TechNews
Lifenet Disaster Communications Technology Moving to Market
The National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance has awarded a grant to Georgia Institute of Technology to migrate its wireless communications network to the marketplace.
From ACM TechNews
Walking, Talking Doll: Japanese Scientists nveil Female Android
Japanese scientists worked with robot manufacturer Kokoro to develop a female android that can mimic a person's facial expression.
From ACM News
Braille Displays Promise to Deliver the Web to the Blind
The Web's wealth of information would lose some of its luster if you read it only one line at a time. Yet this is exactly how blind and other vision-impaired people today must experience the Web when they use electronic Braille…
From ICT Results
Haptic Solution Gives Industry a Better Feel for Designs
Industrial design modeling, used to make prototypes of home appliances or mock-ups of car parts, could soon make the leap from the world of plaster, plastic and sticky tape into the digital domain thanks to an augmented reality…
From ACM News
Searching For Answers: Ethical Considerations of Google's Presence in China
When Jim Caccamo, Ph.D., heard of Google's recent struggles in China, he knew he'd need to update the curriculum for the Technology, Society and Christian Ethics course he teaches at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia,…
From ACM News
Sharp Increase In Computer Science niversity Enrollment
The number of undergraduate students majoring in computer science increased 14 percent over the last two years, reversing the steep decline in computer science enrollment experienced during the previous decade. The Computing…
From ACM TechNews
Programming With Purpose
The University of Washington recently held a reception that enabled computer-science and engineering undergraduate students to show off new accessibility applications to the local blind, deaf, and deaf-blind communities.
From ACM TechNews
Augmented Reality Brings Dibidogs Alive in 3D
The VTT Technical Research Center of Finland has been developing augmented reality technology, which superimposes digital information in the user's view, and uses real-time video images and 3-D virtual objects.